Yarn tension indicating and comparing device



06L 1965 v. COLDREN ETAL 3,212,328

YARN TENSION INDICATING AND COMPARING DEVICE Filed Feb. 21, 1962 INVENTORS. M152 I///V F. 50611 1- 7 BY V/IPG/A C01 fl/Pf/i A TTO/P/VFX United States Patent 3,212,328 YARN TENSION INDICATING AND COMPARING DEVICE Vllgll Coldren, Kennett Square, and Melvin F. Buckley, Norristown, Pa., assignors to Chester Tricot Mills, Inc., Kennett Square, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 174,833 1 Claim. (Cl. 73-143) This invention relates to a warp knitting machine of the type disclosed in U.S. Patent 2,720,093 and US. Patent 2,910,850.

One object of this invention is to produce an improved machine of the type set forth.

Warp knitting machines use one, or more, yarns for the upper, and one, or more, yarns for the lower, bank of needles and, if the desired uniformity or other characteristics of the fabric produced is to be attained and maintained, it is necessary that the yarns be run under a substantially constant tension, or under substantially constant tension ratios.

It is therefore a specific object of this invention to produce a tension indicating device which continuously compares the tension of each yarn with the speed at which it is desired to run said yarn, thus enabling the attendant to make such adjustments as may be indicated.

A further object is to produce a yarn tension indicating and comparing device which is simple, inexpensive and reliable and which has only one movable part, the

movement of said part being a function of the then prevailing tension of the yarn.

These and other objects are attained by this invention as set forth in the following specification and as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view showing the invention applied to a conventional warp knitting machine.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tension indicating and comparing device shown detached.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of line 33 on FIG. 2.

In the drawings, designates Ia bobbin for supplying yarn 12 for the upper bank of needles of a warp knitting machine and 14 designates a similar bobbin for supplying yarn 16 for the lower bank of needles of said machine. Since the knitting machine forms no part of this invention, it is represented by broken line rectangle in FIG. 1 and it is sufficient to say that the fabric 18 is formed at knitting line 20 and is taken up on beam 22. The tensions under which yarns 12 and 16 are run are controlled by conventional tension regulating devices 24 and 26 which can be adjusted by turning a knob, not shown, to increase, or to decrease, the tension of the yarn at will.

The tension indicating and comparing devices of the upper and lower yarns are carried by a bracket 28 which is suitably secured to the frame of the machine somewhere along the line of travel of yarns 12 and 16 from their tension regulating devices to the knitting line 18.

The upper and lower tension indicating and comparing devices include upper and lower studs 30 which are secured to bracket 28 and fixedly support upper and lower index plates 34 and 36 which are graduated, as at 37. Studs 30 also support upper and lower pointers 38 and 40 and upper and lower collars 42 and 44 which carry fingers 46 and 48, each of which terminates in a hook, or loop, 49. Pointers 38 and 40 are movable so 'as to register with the desired calibration 37 on the respective plates 34 and 36 and means, not shown, is provided for maintaining said pointers in the positions to which they may have been moved. The means referred to may take the form of set screw, a spring, a clamp, or the like. Collars 42 and 44 are freely rotatable on their studs.

Bracket 28 also carries upper arm 50 which has guide openings 51 and 52 and lower arm 54 which has guide openings 56 and 58. Studs 30 are provided with fixed guide extensions P.

The operation is as follows:

Pointers 38 and 40 are moved to register with the desired calibrations 37 on their respective plates 34 and 36, it being remembered that the calibrations represent predetermined degrees of yarn tension and that the pointers are fixed in the respective positions to which they may have been moved. The upper yarn 12 is threaded through upper guide opening 51, through loop 49 of upper finger 46, over associated extension P, and through guide opening 52 before reaching knitting line 18. Similarly, lower yarn 16 is threaded through guide opening 56, through the loop 49 of lower finger 48, over associated extension P, and through guide opening 58. When the machine is idle, that is, in the absence of tension on the yarn, fingers 46 and 48 assume the substantially vertical position shown in FIG. 2. When the machine is running, the tension on the respective yarns rotates their respective fingers 46 and 48 in counter-clockwise direction. It will be remembered that pointers 38 and 40 are set to register with the desired calibration and that the settings of the pointers may be identical, or that pointer 38 may be set to indicate a higher degree of tension than pointer 48, and so on. Therefore, if finger 46 assumes a position below its pointer 38, as shown in FIG. 2, it means that the upper yarn 12 is slack and the attendant adjusts tension regulating device 24 to increase the tension, and vice versa. Similarly, if lower finger 48 assumes a position above its pointer 40, it means that the tension on lower yarn 16 is too high and regulating device 26 is adjusted to reduce the tension. It will be understood that, as long as fingers 46 and 48 hover over their pointers Within an acceptable range, no adjustment of the tension will be needed.

The amount of yarn used at the knitting line is a function of the speed at which the yarn moves and of the tension, or vice versa. Therefore, if it is desired to increase the length of upper yarn 12 in a given course, as compared to the length of lower yarn used in said course, the tension on the upper yarn is reduced and the tension on the lower yarn is increased, and vice versa.

It will be noted that the device disclosed shows the absolute tenison of each yarn and that it constantly compares the tensions of the two yarns to make the attendant maintain the ratio. It will be seen that these results are obtained by merely setting pointers 38 and 40 and watching fingers 46 and 48. In other words, each yarn indicates its own tension and its pointer translates the tension into intelligible results without the use of any of the complicated expedients of the prior art, some of which are disclosed in US. Patents 2,030,425; 2,207,464; 2,298,888; 2,432,518, and 2,818,713.

To cut down vibration and to facilitate movement of the thread from hook 49 to guide 58, we provide a smooth pin P over which the yarn passes, as clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

We claim:

A yarn tension indicating device including:

a vertical supporting bracket,

21 vertical index plate fixedly carried by said bracket and having gradations thereon,

a pointer carried by said index plate and movable into registration with a selected gradation,

means locking said pointer in position,

a horizonal bar carried by said bracket and having yarn guide openings near the opposite ends thereof,

a horizontal fixed guide pin carried by said bracket intermediate the ends of said bar and disposed at an angle to said index plate,

3 4 a freely rotatable finger carried by said bracket and References Cited by the Examiner including a first portion substantially parallel to UNITED STATES PATENTS said index plate and a second portion WhlCh 1s substantially parallel to said pin, there being a yarn 1,305,780 6/19 Dllks, 73143 guide opening at the end of the second portion of 5 1,359,449 11/20 Mess'mger et 73 143 said pin for receiving the yarn, 1,817,203 8/31 Payne 73 144 said finger, in the absence of yarn tension, being freely 2,457,286 12/48 Tonefsen 2,591,724 4/52 SaXl 73144 movable, by gravity, to a position in which the first portion thereof is substantially vertical and being FOREIGN PATENTS movable out of said position by the tension of the 10 yarn passing through said openings whereby the 575227 4/33 Germany movement of said finger towards and away from said pointer indicates the order of tension to which the RICHARD QUEISSER Examine" yarn is subjected at any given moment. DAVID SCHONBERG, Exammer. 

